Lexus Recall Drags Toyota and the Nikkei Lower

Shares were mixed in Asia Wednesday. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index sank 0.6% to 10,402, while in China the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.2% to close at 2,709. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up 0.2% to end the day at 23,843.

Prices on the London Metal Exchange sank 2.5% and crude oil also closed lower yesterday. This steep fall in the value of commodities sent shares in Japanese trading houses spiraling with Mitsui & Co. diving 1.9% and Mitsubishi Corp. losing 1.5%. Sumitomo Metal Mining tumbled 2.4% and oil and gas company Inpex slipped 1.3%.

Other big losers in Japan included Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp, which nosedived 5.5% after a newspaper reported it was selling drugs that hadn't been properly tested, and Eisai Co., which lost face after a drug it had been hyping for the treatment of sepsis failed its efficacy tests. Investors had been banking on the drug, Eritoran, to bring in sales worth more than $1 billion, according to InPharm.com, but today Eisai slumped 5% on dashed hopes.

New Year's Travel Plans Boost Transportation Stocks

In China transportation stocks surged, helped along by the masses of people expected to travel over the upcoming holiday season. Airline's shot up with China Southern Airlines shooting up 3.6%, Air China jumping 3.4% and China Eastern Airlines advancing 2.4%. Hainan Airlines, toting both passengers and freight to China's island destination as well as to other locations, rocketed up 6.2%. The airline is receiving rave reviews from customers with travelers posting comments like, "Best flight ever. . . . The other Chinese airlines can learn a thing from Hainan Airlines."

Trainmakers continued their climb thanks to contracts to extend China's rail lines and brand new deals to export their technology and hardware. China CNR shot up 5.1% and CSR leaped 3.6%.